The present invention relates to a system to reduce or eliminate accidents whereby an airplane is flown, either deliberately or unintentionally, into ground, water or other obstacles.
Controlled flight into terrainxe2x80x94known in the aviation community by the acronym xe2x80x9cCFITxe2x80x9d (pronounced xe2x80x9cSee-fitxe2x80x9d)xe2x80x94is the leading cause of fatal commercial air accidents worldwide. In CFIT accidents, a fully qualified and certificated crew flies a properly working airplane into the ground, water or obstacles with no apparent awareness by the pilots. Worse yet, as evident in the 9-11 attacks, an aircraft may even be hijacked and deliberately flown into a building/terrain to cause fatalities among both the passengers and ground civilians.
Certain systems are currently available to address unintentional CFIT accidents. These systems are typically variations of either the Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) or Collision Avoidance System (CAS). TAWS and CAS use radar to detect terrain and other aircraft located within a certain proximity of the aircraft. Upon detecting the presence of terrain or other aircraft, a warning signal is provided to the pilot, who must then analyze the warning and determine whether to take evasive action. These systems vary in their sophistication on how to detect dangers in front of the plane. However all systems share some similar drawbacks.
First, the conventional systems are very expensive. This makes it almost prohibitive to install such systems on small planes. Regardless of how good a system is, it is useless if it is not installed.
Second, the conventional systems provide warnings only. As a result, these systems depend on a crew present in the aircraft to notice and react to the warning. In cases where the crew is incapacitated or the plane has been hijacked, one can assume that the person in control of the plane probably has malicious intentions. In these cases, no amount of warning will suffice.
It would therefore be desirable to have an inexpensive system that provides for automatic awareness and avoidance of flight into terrain.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an Automated Terrain Awareness and Avoidance System (ATAAS), which addresses both the shortcomings of the systems discussed above.
In one embodiment, the ATAAS includes a location transmitter located in a region to be protected from CFIT accidents. For example, the location transmitter may be located on top of a tall building. The transmitter transmits an identification value to an aircraft. In one embodiment, the identification value includes the 3-D location of the location transmitter and a tag identifier value.
Upon receiving the identification value, a safety checking routine on the aircraft identifies a danger zone around the transmitter, and determines whether the aircraft has entered (or is on course to enter) the danger zone. If the safety checking routine determines that the aircraft has (or will) enter the danger zone, the safety checking routine determines a safe route and engages the autopilot, which automatically steers the aircraft along the safe route. The safety checking routine also causes a random password to be transmitted to an air route traffic control center (ARTCC). The autopilot is only disengaged if the safety checking routine determines the aircraft is no longer on course to enter the danger zone, or if the crew obtains the random password from the ARTCC, and provides this random password to the safety checking routine.
In another embodiment, the ATAAS can be configured to receive an alarm signal from a Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) or Collision Avoidance System (CAS) on the aircraft. Upon receiving the alarm signal, the safety checking routine determines a safe route and engages the autopilot, which automatically steers the aircraft along the safe route. The safety checking routine also causes a random password to be transmitted to an air route traffic control center (ARTCC). The autopilot is only disengaged if the safety checking routine determines the TAWS or CAS is no longer asserting the alarm signal, or if the crew obtains the random password from the ARTCC, and provides this random password to the safety checking routine.
In yet another embodiment, the ATAAS can be configured to receive a manual alarm signal when someone in the cockpit actuates a manual alarm switch. It is expected that such a manual alarm switch would be actuated in the event that the aircraft was being hijacked. Upon receiving the manual alarm signal, the safety checking routine determines a safe route and engages the autopilot, which automatically steers the aircraft along the safe route. The safety checking routine also causes a random password to be transmitted to an air route traffic control center (ARTCC). The autopilot is only disengaged if the someone on the aircraft obtains the random password from the ARTCC, and provides this random password to the safety checking routine.
The present invention will be more fully understood in view of the following description and drawings.